5 Things to Explore When the Scale Goes Up

Andrea delves into the contentious topic of the scale and its impact on emotional and physical health. She discusses the scale's potential negative effects and then explores strategies for managing weight fluctuations without letting the scale dictate one's self-worth. Andrea's holistic approach encourages listeners to focus on overall health rather than numbers on a scale, offering practical tips for a balanced lifestyle and mental well-being.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome back. Today we're going to be talking about the scale. Dun dun dun! The scale. Obviously the scale is not beneficial in many circumstances, but today I want to explore how to handle the situation when the scale goes up. And I also want to give you two different suggestions on how you personally should handle the scale based on your emotional connection to it.

 I also want to give a quick shout out to Dobmel06. She left a review titled, love this content. I found Andrea on IG. I love, love her content. I've learned so much from her podcast and her videos. I work in bariatric surgery and medical weight loss, so I love learning about health and exercise tips that I can share with my patients.

I also love learning for my own interests in health and fitness. Thank you so much for what you do, Andrea. No, thank you so, so much for writing the review. If you have an episode you love, please tell me about it. If you want me to do something different, I'm all ears. Anything to just hear from you, get a [00:01:00] review.

It helps the podcast grow. It helps me get more guests. So wherever you listen, leave a review. And don't forget to follow along with the show, making sure you're subscribed. So every episode is downloaded directly to your phone every Wednesday. All right, so let's talk about things for you to explore when the scale goes up. Now I do want to start this episode by saying that I am not personally a lover of the scale. I actually don't own one, but I do believe it can have benefits if you are using the scale [00:02:00] correctly and you are not allowing it to control and affect your mood or your self worth. So before we talk about what to do when the scale goes up, I want to give you two different ways to handle the scale first.

The first way We actually talked about in last week's episode with Ren. She is one of my DFH coaches. She works on my staff and she had a hundred pound weight loss journey. And she talked about how she weighed herself every day and that helped her gain the ability to see the number on the scale as simply a data point.

It moved her out of that mental connection to the scale and it didn't affect her mood, but she was able to then see that. fluctuations in weight was normal. She got used to seeing when she was ovulating, when she was PMSing, when she had salt retention, all different things. And she lost that emotional connection to the scale and it no longer negatively overpowered her.

So if you're in a situation where you want to [00:03:00] weigh daily and you can look at it as a data point, Go for it. On the other hand, if you are in a situation where when you weigh yourself, it affects your mood, then I would go with the second option of simply not weighing yourself at all. If you feel like you can't allow it to not affect your mood, It's not mentally healthy for you.

And if something is not mentally healthy for you, it's going to eventually affect your physical health. I've noticed often when people weigh themselves once a week, especially they even have more of a mental connection to it. And the problem is they're not seeing those daily fluctuations like Ren talked about when she weighed daily, let's say all week long, you had a really great.

Weak on exercising and eating great, and you happen to weigh yourself on a day where you're ovulating and you don't realize it, and that can affect the scale. It makes a huge difference. So if you're going to use the scale, the only way I suggest using it is if you truly can look at it as a data [00:04:00] point, a way to recognize trends or fluctuations in your weight.

So just like the water that we have in our body fluctuates all day long, your weight fluctuates all day long. So you have to lose that emotional connection to the scale. So you got to pick one of those routes, just a data point, or don't do it at all because it's going to hurt you and you can experiment with what is right for you.

So let's talk about if the scale does go up and you start to worry about it or overthink it. Let's talk about some options that you can think about. I have a private Facebook group where any client that I've ever worked with in the last 10 years has access to this group. And they use it as a way to get tips, a way to share tips, ask for advice, get support, and even vent about things they're struggling with.

 This last week, a client that I had worked with for probably a year to a year and a half, she's an amazing human being, commented on the Facebook group and she was just asking for advice or support.

And she pointed [00:05:00] out that she was worried that the scale was shifting. She's not currently coaching with us. She's kind of moving to maintenance. So she's kind of trying to find her own way, which is great, but she was worried about the scale and it was asking for tips or things to think about when the scale went up.

And when I saw this post, obviously I responded to her and I shared a lot of the information that I'm going to share with you now about things to think about when the scale goes up because instantly our mind goes negative when that happens. And it doesn't have to be that way. There are some good factors that can happen when the scale goes up, or there's things that we can really truly assess to see what's going on to really be in control of our health.

just because that scale has gone up doesn't mean you're failing. So the first thing I want you to explore and think about is your muscle gain. When you gain muscle and you change your body composition, so your muscle goes up and your fat goes down, sometimes you can gain weight because you have [00:06:00] more muscle on your body.

For example, I am 12 pounds heavier than I was about 10 years ago, but I have a lot more muscle definition in my arms and my legs everywhere. I carry a lot more muscle on my body, but that makes me weigh more.

Muscle is more compact, literally, the muscle fibers are more condensed, so they take up less space, but on a scale, pound for pound, muscle weighs the same amount as fat, but fat has more volume, so it makes it take up more space, so you have to be aware of that.

If you are lifting heavy, if you are getting stronger, the scale might go up, but that is not a bad thing. Your health is improving. You are becoming stronger. So instead of focusing on the scale and these situations, if you think you're adding muscle. And especially if you are trying to build a booty, guess what? The scale is going to go up and the butt is going to go out because that is adding muscle. So you got to think about those things. But if you are trying [00:07:00] to add muscle, I want you to dish the scale, not overthink it.

I want you to pay attention to how your clothes are fitting and to watch your belly measurement. Typically, when we add muscle, we add it in our glutes, our legs, our arms. Our bellies do not build muscle out. If our bellies are growing out, there could be another factor involved, which is when you can explore some of the other options that I'm going to talk about.

But typically that belly measurement does not increase with muscle gain because that's not the way that ab muscles work. They don't build out like many of the other body parts. So if you're noticing that your belly measurement is increasing, forget the scale, the belly measurement, you might want to think about your hormones.

when you are ovulating or PMSing, or if you have a hormone imbalance, it can increase your weight on the scale.

If you happen to weigh yourself when you're ovulating, then it is going to drastically change that number. I have seen it change for myself from one to five pounds. I've seen it change even more for other clients. So [00:08:00] you have to recognize if you're jumping on the scale when you are PMSing or ovulating, it's going to make it different.

Now, if you are not ovulating, you are not about to get your period, your diet is pretty balanced, you're working out regularly, including weights, and the scale is going up, that can be a great indicator to not feel bad about, but to simply get your hormones checked because there might be something off and that could be a sign that there is something off.

 There are so many hormones that when they are imbalanced, it can affect your weight. Estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid function, cortisol, and so many more can affect your weight. So if all of your factors are the same, you know, you're not ovulating, you know, you're not about to get your period.

And you're noticing again, it is a great time for you to get those hormones checked and see what's going on. Because the answer is not, Oh, I'm I've gained a little bit. My habits are the same. Let me just cut my food intake and increase my workout amount or [00:09:00] my cardio.

That may not be the answer. You may have a real imbalance and you're working in the opposite direction. So get your hormones checked. In that hormone category, I do want to dive in, especially into cortisol because cortisol is something that we can control a little bit more. And it is often linked to obviously high levels of cortisol that can be affected by stressful events, or if we're having a prolonged series of stress in our life.

 I linked a study in the show notes which is showing that elevated stress for long periods of time is linked to abdominal fat. So if you are under stress for a long time, then you may see some weight gain due to an imbalance of cortisol. I am going to suggest that you listen to episode 186. It came out January 10th.

It is the second episode in my hormone series and I talk about high cortisol and you might want to listen to the other episodes in the hormone series the one on estrogen as well just before that and then after the cortisol one episode 175, which is on testosterone, those might all be [00:10:00] helpful, but realizing that that can be the reason for the weight gain, not your habits is really, really important and you need to explore that option if you think that's what's happening.

The next thing to explore if your weight is going up on the scale is thinking about your salt retention and what you are eating in your diet. If you eat a meal that has a large amount of sodium in it. You are going to have a short term weight gain due to fluid retention. So if you're one of those people who weighs yourself just once a week and you happen to have more sodium in your diet the day before, and then you weigh that next morning, guess what?

Your weight may be up and there is no point in beating yourself up because it's just fluid retention. It's not even real weight or fat or anything else. And as you drink water and get moving, it can flush out that sodium. So you can't have that connection thinking automatically just because the scale went up, I must be gaining weight.

It could simply be salt retention. Here's a really simple example. When I travel, I tend to pack nuts and [00:11:00] jerky. They are non perishable. If they get hot or cold, it doesn't really matter. They're easy to eat. They have a decent amount of protein in them, but they also have a decent amount of sodium in them.

And if I'm traveling all day long and I tend to have a lot of these two items, guess what? I'm going to get a little bit bloated, and if I weighed myself, I probably would weigh more on a scale. That is normal. I have to explore that as an option if I was starting to feel bad about that weight gain. So, if you get on a scale, you see a bump up, think about what you ate that day.

Earlier in the day, the night before, the day before, did you have something that maybe had a little bit more salt in it, which might create that retention of fluid. And you just need to get moving and drink water and not overthink it at all. There's no reason to feel bad. There's no reason to shame yourself.

Just move on with your life. You're doing a good job.

 The last thing that a shift on the scale can be caused from, and this is one I think that we could think about without internalizing it and making it [00:12:00] negative, is simply a shift in our diets. If you are keeping the same routine all week long, where you are trying to eat as little as possible and diet, And then on the weekend you are going off the rails and just eating most everything in sight, and then continuing the weekday starvation diet where you just eat as little as possible.

You avoid all the things you love over restriction, and then you overdo it on the weekend. In this case, the issue I have is that when someone jumps on the scale, they think, oh, the scale's going up. I must need to decrease and make my weekly. Diet even lower. No, I want you to do the opposite. I want you to explore and think about your habits.

And I actually want you during the week, if you are someone who obviously diets all week and then overdoes on the weekend, I want you to increase your food intake during the week. When you are under eating most of the week for an extended period of time, it actually slows down your metabolism. Your [00:13:00] metabolism is so smart.

I know that we think we control our metabolism, but our metabolism's job is to protect our body. It is to make our body function, to give us energy. And if we are abusing it, guess what? It slows down to make sure it's meeting its needs, that it's able to blink your eyes and lift your arm and do all of the basic things it needs all day.

So if you're under eating pretty decently during the week, it's going to slow down. Then what happens is on the weekend when you overdo it, The metabolism is slow, it doesn't digest the food as well, and not only that, but often our body stores that food for later energy because it's not getting its needs met during the week. So it actually stores fat. And then what happens is again, you're weighing yourself thinking, Oh, it's because I'm overdoing it on the weekend. Let me eat less. No, no. It's that's the yo yo effect. You got to get out of that.

I want you eating more during the week. not overly restricting during the week, but including things you love during the week and even treats during the week so that [00:14:00] you don't overdo it on the weekend.

If you stop eating in a deficit and move towards maintenance, it's going to give your metabolism a break, which is going to help you get stronger when you exercise. And this is called reverse dieting. It's when you increase your food intake. And we do this with about 30 to 40 percent of our clients.

Literally clients come to us and they say, Oh, I need to lose weight or I want to add muscle. And we look at their food intake and I'm like, you're not eating enough. For me to put you in a deficit and you're actually hurting metabolism. So we have to increase their food intake before we can do anything else.

This gives their metabolism that break. It helps them add muscle and it really does make a difference to get them out of that yo yo situation so that when we are in a healthier spot with food and with our metabolism, You can go into a short term cut. I'm really big on that. We don't live our lives in a cut, a very short term cut where we reduce the food intake, balance it correctly with enough protein for a small window, and then you bounce back up to maintenance and that can help with fat [00:15:00] loss.

 But if you're constantly in that diet mentality all week long and overdoing it on the weekend, you can be thinking, Oh, the scale's going up. It's because I'm under eating and it's not, you need to eat more food and you need to reverse diet.

Now the other option that can be affected by diet is if maybe you eat very normal all week long. You're not under eating by any means, but you can still be overdoing it on the weekend or even just like on random days during the week. You can tell if you fall into this category if you are not always trying to diet.

You're not overly obsessive about like keeping your plate super clean or super small or avoiding food. So maybe you're just a normal eater but then sometimes you overdo it with food. and by overdoing it, I mean that you could be eating above what your maintenance level.

Your maintenance level is the amount of food you need to basically function and do all of the things you do all day long. And if you're above that, that's when your body can sometimes store fat.

If you fall into this category, which to be honest, I do feel like this [00:16:00] category is actually less than the first one. But if you do fall into this category, sometimes it's not even about eating less food, but about eating more balanced. So I've had clients where we don't even reduce their calorie intake.

We simply balance it out by making sure they're having enough protein, the right amount of carbs, and the right amount of fats. And that's going to vary by person based on your needs, your exercise activity, and your current diet.

There really isn't a cookie cutter plan to that, so you just have to be aware of that. But, if you do feel like you fall in that category, it's not bad to track your food for two or three days and see, Oh wow, you know what? I'm eating way more carbs than everything else, and my protein's really low. Maybe I should eat a little bit more protein during the day and reduce my carbs a little bit.

So it's not always about less food in those situations, but about the right balance of macronutrients, which I talk about a lot.

And it's definitely not about turning around and starving yourself just because you might be eating above maintenance. It's about finding that right balance for you. And [00:17:00] even if you are someone who falls under this category and you do feel like, you know what? I think I am eating above maintenance.

That's okay. That is okay. We've all been there in life. There is no reason to shame yourself over that. That is normal. I can tell you what I've eaten over maintenance multiple times. That is normal. Do not feel bad about that. There can be many factors in your life or maybe that is not a priority to think about.

But if you're in a spot where you do want to focus on maintenance, Finding a healthier lifestyle, just focus on that balance, increasing your exercise, making sure you're getting enough protein to support your exercise, and you're getting enough healthy fats with carbs as well. I don't demonize any of those, so being aware of that as well.

There's no reason for us to look at the scale and instantly shame ourselves. There's no reason for us to assume just because the scale goes up that we are failing or we are doing a bad job. Sometimes, it's just a moment for us to explore what's happening. Are my hormones maybe off? Did I [00:18:00] have a lot of salt yesterday?

Am I trying to diet too much, which is making me overeat on the weekend? Am I about to get my period or ovulating? All of these are factors that you can think about and think through logically and disconnect the emotion with the scale. I promise as soon as you can do this, it will make such a difference.

And if you're not at a spot where you can disconnect that emotion, then I am going to say to ditch your scale and focus on how your clothes feel, how you feel functional in your body. And if you really want something to measure, do it. I would say measurements are a better option or even photos because that can tell a change in body composition as well.

But even those, if those stress you out, just go based on how you feel and never think about how you're failing or you're not doing it right. That's just going to create negative energy. Explore and figure out why is this happening? What can I do and move forward and let it go? All right, that's it for today.

I love you. I mean it. Please do not let the scale affect [00:19:00] you. It is a silly number that should not be connected with your self worth. If you want to use it as a data point, go for it. If you don't, that's okay too. You are doing so much better than you think you are. Don't forget it. All right, we'll chat next week.